In the manufacture of electronic communications apparatus it is standard practice to utilize elongated terminal pins formed with insertion ends which are inserted into a support structure, such as a printed wiring board, and opposite connector ends which subsequently are received in a connector device. For maximum use and versatility it is essential that the connector ends of the terminal pins maintain their structural integrity and provide a smooth finished surface for reception in the connector device. Thus, it is important that the connector ends of the terminal pins not be scratched, deformed or otherwise damaged during the assembly operation.
In the assembling of these terminal pins in apertures in a printed wiring board, it is known practice to insert the insertion ends of the pins into the apertures in the printed wiring board by exerting pressure on the connector ends of the pins. This is undesirable because the pressure on the connector ends of the terminal pins tends to damage these ends whereby they subsequently cannot be properly inserted in a connector device.
It also is known to form terminal pins from sheet stock in a parallel array with opposite ends of the terminal pins interconnected by opposed parallel side rails to form a terminal strip. In an assembling operation one of the side rails in separated from insertion ends of the terminal pins and the other side rail may be used as a pusher member to insert the separated ends into apertures in a printed wiring board. After the assembling operation, the second support rail is separated from connector ends of the terminal pins. In the alternative, the second support rail may be separated from the connector ends of the terminal pins before or after the insertion of the terminal pins into the printed wiring board, with the insertion of the terminal pins into the board being accomplished utilizing push shoulders formed on intermediate portions of the pins. In any event, either method is disadvantageous because the structural integrity of the connector ends of the terminal pins is damaged or destroyed when the side rails are separated from the pins, thus making the pins unacceptable for universal use.
The T. R. Harris U.S. Pat. No. 2,871,551 (FIG. 7) discloses a terminal pin strip in which terminal pins are interconnected adjacent respective ones of their ends by a removable side rail, and intermediate their ends by a strip member which may be utilized to provide an electrical connection between two or more adjacent terminal pins. In this regard, the strip member may be severed between adjacent terminals which are not to be electrically interconnected, as desired, at the same time that the ends of the terminals are separated from the side rail.